Jesus's Use of Scripture Reveals God as Good, Faithful, Inclusive and Merciful, Richard Rohr's Meditation for March 3rd

...."Jesus selectively emphasizes the texts that reveal his God as good, faithful, inclusive, and merciful, and he creates stories--and concrete healing events--to communicate that very point, such as The Good Samaritan, The Prodigal Son, and The Publican and the Pharisee. Each of these stories and healings are true on many different levels. That is exactly what makes them inspired stories! Jesus consistently ignored passages that reveal his God to be punitive, exclusionary, imperialistic, small, or tribal. ,,,Pope Francis insists that mercy is at the very top of the Christian hierarchy of great truths, and everything falls apart whenever mercy is displaced by anything else."

Adapted from Hierarchy of Truths: Jesus' Use of Scripture (CD, MP3 download)